Senior dane limping and lethargic...what could it be? Please help

[bruceymoosey]

hi, I have a 7 1/2 yr old great dane. About a month ago he had blood in his urine, A LOT. He also fell a couple of times the week prior. I brought him to the vet to be checked. Dx: UTI and swollen prostate. He was put on an antibiotic and antiinfamatory for 14 days. He's been doind well up until this morning. It was sprinkling/raining and icy out prob 20-30°. I brought him for his usual a.m. Walk. Half way thru the walk he began limping, front leg. I was afraid I was going to have to try to carry this 138 lb dog home :( I know in the past his paw would go numb if it was too cold out but this was different, he was limping in an uncomfortable way. We made it home, I dried him off with a towel and then made his breakfast. When I called him up from his bed, it took him a bit to get up, very sluggish. He ate then went back into his bed. I'm concerned. He's usually pretty excited and follows me around the house. We give him EZ GO rounders (1 a day) for his joints and fish oil as well. We adopted him last August from previous owner who had him for 6 years. He suffered from heart worm 2 years ago (he also takes heartgaurd every month as a preventative). What do you think is wrong with him? I don't know anyone who has a great dane and our clinic doesn't has much expertise on danes.

[Margot49]

Good and glad you are on top of this.  Almost sounds exactly what we are going through with out 12 year old Greyhound now. Blood work was normal but dumping protein in his urine.  He is on a low-phosphorus diet, Pepcid and BP meds.  Our dog was not eating, lethargic and losing weight.  These dogs have no fat layer so they can be skin and bones in nothing flat.  For what it's worth, on my Greyhound boards, there has been discussion of hind end weakness in dogs with renal failure.  Just thought I'd throw that out there but most seem to be seeing that in end stage.  I have not seen that in our dog here, yet anyway.  
I even had a complete panel done for TBD (tick borne diseases).  We often don't know the history/origin of these dogs off the tracks and if they had a tick borne disease at one time, it *can* affect the organs and surface years later.  Luckily, those tests came out negative for our dog.  
Sounds like your Vet is on top of this and nice to know he is thinking outside the box and at least tested for Lime.  

[bruceymoosey]

Thanks for replying. I did bring him back to the vet. He has high levels of protein and casts from his kidney in his urine. The blood work came back normal. He seems to be doing well now...he is currently taking pain and antiinflamatory meds. He has a couple days left of that. We will be taking another urine, this time fasting in two weeks. The vet recommended we wait until he has been off the meds for a couple of weeks. If the protein levels are still high then we know its not from the meds and we will put Bruce on a kidney diet to do a flush.
Yes, I believe he did go through heartworm treatment, the previous owner said he had. Yes, he does have heartworm test done regularly and is taking preventive as well. They also checked that again along with lime disease.

[Margot49]

See nobody has addressed this yet.  First off, I'd be back at the Vet rechecking that UTI issue and make sure there is no kidney failure involved.  Poor kidney function can cause all kinds of physical problems, including loss of calcium, toxins in the blood, etc.
Did he actually go through heartworm treatment?  I assume he has had a heartworm test done, even though he is on the medication?
Even though my dogs are on heartworm, they are still tested yearly